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Union wants action on airplane cockpit smell

Monday 22 February 2010

The FNV general workers union has called on the transport and social affairs ministries to launch a far-reaching investigation into smoke and smell problems on board Fokker-100 planes.

TV show Zembla reported on Sunday night that last December KLM Cityhopper planes were twice hit by such severe problems that the pilots were forced to use oxygen masks.

The programme said it is 'extremely likely' the problem is due to toxic chemicals entering the air conditioning system following an oil leak.

The transport ministry has confirmed both incidents, Zembla said.

Oil leak?

KLM refused to comment in depth on the reports but said it is taking the incidents seriously.

Union official Leen van der List said he wanted to know what the health risks are to crew and passengers and what action is being taken to stop the leaks.

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Readers' comments

These planes are so old. They are rust buckets. I avoid booking flights on Fokkers and will choose another airline

By Michael | February 22, 2010 4:43 PM

A rather apropriate name for these old rust-buckets

By jaycee | February 22, 2010 5:41 PM

I think they need to ground all Fokker plans until they find out the source of this problem and repair it. Since they have not grounded these plans still, it looks as if they are waiting for a plane to crash before take a urgent action in this regard.

By Iqbal | February 22, 2010 7:44 PM

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